Brush bristle feed control



July 7, S] I. SPIEGEL BRUSH BRISTLE FEED CONTROL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNov. 25. l960 I INVENTOR .51 I. Sneen. c

ATTORNEY July 7, 1964 s: 1. SPIEGEL 3,140,122

BRUSH BRISTLE FEED CONTROL Filed Nov. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,140,122 7 BRUSH BRISTLE FEED CONTROL Si I.Spiegel, Mount Vernon, N.Y., assignor to American Brush Machinery Co.,Inc., Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 25, 1950,er. No. 71,796 14 Claims. (Cl. 300-2) This invention is directed to anovel feed control for brush bristles in an automatic brush makingmachine such as shown in Patent 2,742,327.

In such machine, during each brush forming cycle or routine, bristlesare picked in clusters from a supply store and transferred to insertposition between a pair of binding wires being fed past insert positionby a traveling chuck. When a desired length of wires has been fed duringa wire feeding period in the cycle, the chuck is rotated to twist thewires together, locking the inserted bristle clusters into the twistedwire loops. The wires are then out behind the twisted portion and thechuck opened to drop the Work into a receiving space. Bristle insertionis stopped before the end of the wire feeding period and is notrestarted until the next wire feeding period in the next brush formingcycle. By stopping insertion before the end of the wire feeding period,a terminal portion of the fed length of wires is left bare of bristles.When the wires are out after the twisting operation, a substantial partof the bare portion of the wires remains as the leading end of the Wiresto be grasped by the chuck for the next wire feeding stroke.

Heretofore, the insertion and skipping of bristles between the brushingwires have been controlled by driving the bristle picking and bristleinserting means through clutch means engaged to drive the picking andinserting means for transferring bristles from the store to the wiresand disengaged to interrupt drive of the picking and inserting means andcause skipping of bristle insertion. The intermittent clutching anddeclutching of the bristle picking and inserting mechanisms producesmomentum and inertia effects which strain the mechanism and interferewith smoothness of operation. Further, the clutching and declutchingactions and their side effects lessen the effective and permissiblespeed of operation of the bristle transferring means and, therefore, ofthe machine as a whole.

An object of the invention is to control the transfer of bristles from asupple store to the binding wires Without clutching and declutching ofthe bristle picking and inserting means. The invention functions tocontrol transfer and interruption of transfer of bristles to the bindingwires while permitting the bristle picking and inserting means tocontinue running uninterruptedly.

The bristle transferring means between the supply store and the bindingwires may comprise, as in said patent, a picker wheel to collect bristleclusters from the store and a pin wheel to take the clusters from thepicker wheel and bring them to insert position between the bindingwires. Alternatively, the bristle transferring means may be a bristlepicking wheel which collects the bristles in clusters from the store andbrings them directly to insert position between the binding wires. Ineither case, the invention provides bristle feed control means foropening and closing the store for the required times during the brushforming cycles. Operation of the feed control means can be effectedthrough a solenoid or through a fluid actuator or mechanically asthrough cam means controlled by a cyclically functioning element of themachine.

Other objects of the invention reside in any other novel feature orcombination of features present in the disclosed apparatus, as willappear from the following portions of the specification and from thedrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the section of an automatic brush makingmachine to which the invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary right side view of illustrative actuating meansfor the bristle feed controller involved in the invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section view through the hopper in FIG. 1and shows the picker and pin wheels unsectioned;

FIG. 4 is a largely schematic view, indicating the Wire feeding andtwisting chuck carriage and illustrating switching means associatedtherewith for controlling timed operations of the bristle feedcontroller;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the invention in conjunctionwith a bristle transferring means in the forming of a picking wheel forreceiving bristle clus ters from the supply hopper and bringing themdirectly to insert position between the binding wires;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a section along lines 77 of FIG. 6.

Only as much of the known machine asis necessary to understand theapplication of the invention thereto is here shown. To aid recognitionof elements of the known machine, they are given the same referencenumbers as in said patent.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a stock of bristles 124 is contained in thesupply hopper 126 which slopes down to the picker wheel fixed to shaft120. This shaft can be oscillated but is here preferably rotated in onedirection, so that the picker wheel moves unidirectionally across thehopper mouth. The picker wheel intrudes into the hopper mouth along anarc of the wheel and is formed with a peripheral slot 143 which intraversing the hopper mouth collects a cluster 139 of bristles andcarries the cluster toward a cluster conveying pin Wheel 54. The pinwheel is formed with circular sides. from the rims of which alined pairsof pins 142 radiate, the arc between each pair of alined pins and thenext pair comprising a cluster receiving and carrying space. Between itssides, the pin Wheel has a groove 81 into which the picker wheel 80intrudes in such manner that during movement of the picker slot 143within the groove, it brings a cluster of bristles to the pin wheel arebetween one alined pair of pins 142 and the next. As the pin wheelrotates relative to the picker wheel, it extracts the bristle clusterfrom the picker slot and conveys the cluster to insert position betweenlower binding wire 10 and upper binding wire 38 which are being pulledpast the insert position by a traveling chuck 24 (FIG. 4). The wires aresuitably guided and spaced at the insert position to receive and carryaway a cluster of bristles from the pin wheel 54. The pin wheel is fixedto a shaft 146. This shaft and the shaft of the picker wheel 80 aredriven from common drive means, such as suggested in said patent, in aratio such that the pin wheel turns through a pin-to-pin arc during eachrevolution of the picker wheel 80. In each revolution of the pickerwheel,

:3 it collects a bristle cluster from the hopper 126 and brings it to anarc of the pin wheel. In successive revolutions of the picker wheel,therefore, successive pin-to-pin arcs or bristle conveying spaces of thepin wheel extract bristle clusters from the picker wheel and bring themsuccessively to the insert position between the binding wires, and sincethe wires are moving, they carry the clusters away in lengthwise spacedpositions. Curved plates 144 and 145 below the picker and pin wheelsprevent clusters from dropping out of the wheels.

After a desired length of the binding wires has been fed by the chuck,its wire feeding stroke ends and its shaft 164 (FIG. 4) is rotated. Thechuck rotation twists the wires together and locks the inserted bristleclusters between the twisted wire loops. The wires are then cut behindthe twisted length and the chuck is opened to drop the completed work,consisting of a length of binding wires twisted about spaced bristleclusters, into a receiving space. Thereafter, a new brush formingroutine begins and the chuck returns to grip the leading end of thewires in the machine and start a new wire feeding period.

As previously explained, the insertion of bristles between binding wiresand 38 is to stop a suitable time before the end of the wire feedingperiod and is not to resume until after the next wire feeding periodoccurs. Interrupting bristle insertion before the end of the wirefeeding period leaves a bristle-free length of wires available, afterthe cutting operation, for grasping by the chuck at the start of thenext wire feeding period. Bristle insertion between the wire feedingperiods of successive brush forming cycles also must be interrupted.

According to the invention, bristle insertion is interrupted for thedesired interval without stopping either the picker wheel 80 or pinwheel 54 but, instead, by interrupting the passage of bristles fromhopper 126 into the picker slot 143. For this purpose, the inventionprovides bristle feed control means including a rocker 400 having a pairof arms 401 dependent from a hub 402 and straddling the picker wheel.The arms 401 are convexly curved on their rear edges substantially inthe shape of an arc of the picker wheel and are of such length that whenin rear position (full line position in FIG. 3), they effectively closethe hopper mouth and shield the picker slot completely from reception ofbristles. Slots 403 in the upper and lower walls of the hopper mouthenable the rocker arms 401 to move far enough back to insure thebristles being pushed back far enough to clear the locus of the pickerwheel.

As long as the rocker arms stay in rear position, they prevent the feedof bristles from the hopper 126 into the picker slot 143. Thus, thepicker wheel can continue its operation without taking in bristles andthe pin wheel 54 can continue to rotate without receiving bristles fromthe picker wheel, so that a desired arcuate span of the pin wheel willbe left empty and when this span traverses the insert position betweenthe wires, no bristle clusters will be delivered to the wires. On theother hand, when the rocker arms 401 are in forward position (dottedline position in FIG. 3), they are sufiiciently inward of the locus ofthe picker slot 143 not to interfere with free passage of bristles fromthe hopper 126 into the picker slot when this slot is traversing thehopper mouth. The picker wheel during its successive revolutions willthen be effective to deliver successive bristle clusters to the pinwheel which will bring them one after another to the insert positionbetween the wires. Screw stops 412a and 412b on ears 413, of arm 407, atopposite sides of a lug 414 of bracket 405, provide adjustable limitsfor the alternative positions of the rocker arms 401.

The invention provides means through which the bristle feed controllercomprising rocker 400, with its arms 401, is set in one or the other ofits alternative positions for desired times during each brush formingcycle. The hub 402 of the rocker is fixed to a shaft 404 journaled in abracket 405 mounted to a frame plate 406. Extending from shaft 404 is acrank arm 407 having pin-and-slot connection to a clevis 408 on the endof a plunger rod 409. The plunger rod is fixed to a plunger (not shown)inside an air cylinder 410 carried by the frame. Air for operating theplunger is valved to cylinder 410 through remote solenoid valves (notshown) similar to the valves provided for the several pneumaticactuators in the machine shown in said patent. The valve operatingsolenoid circuits for cylinder 410 can be timed from any suitable cyclicelement of the machine. Preferably, the timing is controlled from thechuck carriage 162 indicated in FIG. 4.

The chuck carriage 162 is driven through a forward stroke (to the leftin FIG. 4) to bring the chuck 24 into position for grasping the leadingend of the binding wires and is driven through its return stroke toeffect feed of the wires during a wire feeding period. After thecarriage reaches its rear position at the end of the return stroke, itsdrive is interrupted and chuck 24 is rotated to twist the wires. Thewires are then cut and the chuck opens to drop the completed work. Anext forward stroke of the carriage can then be effected. Mounted on thecarriage 162 is a two-way or transfer micro-switch 416 with operatingbuttons 416 and 416r at opposite ends. Assume the carriage is movingthrough its return stroke, to the right in FIG. 4, so that the chuck 24is feeding the binding wires past the bristle insert position. Assume,also, that the rocker arms 401 (FIGS. 1 to 3) are in forward position,permitting feed of bristle clusters to picking wheel and that the pinwheel 54 has been supplied with the clusters from the picking wheel andis inserting them at spaced intervals between the moving binding wires.Before the end of the return stroke of the carriage, hence before theend of the wire feeding period, a freely suspended arm 417 of themicroswitch assembly strikes a plunger 418 mounted in the frame and ismoved clockwise (FIG. 4) to depress the switch button 416r. This tripsthe switch 416 to a position for closing the circuit of a solenoid valve(not shown) to valve air to cylinder 410 for actuating the plunger rod409 forwardly, in a direction to move the rocker 400 from its forwardposition to its rear position, interrupting the feed of bristles fromthe hopper into the picker wheel 80. As a result, bristles will not bedelivered to the pin wheel; leaving pin-to-pin arcs of the pin wheelempty. The timing of the action of switch 416 to cause bristle feed tobe interrupted is such that the empty arcs of the pin wheel will starttraversing bristle insert position for the binding wires before the endof the return stroke of the chuck carriage, so as to leave a terminalportion of the wires fed during the return stroke bare of bristles.

In a known manner, the switch button 416r is latched in depressedposition and, hence, switch 416 remains in bristle-shut off controlstatus until this button is released. After the switch button 416) hasbeen depressed by the action of plunger 418 on the button-operating arm417, the chuck carriage continues its return stroke. Plunger 418 isspring-loaded and permits the arm 417 to pass to the right during thecompletion of the carriage return stroke. During the forward stroke ofthe carriage, the arm 417 freely passes the plunger. At the end of theforward stroke of the carriage 162, the front switch button 416]-strikes an adjustable frame-based element 420 and is depressed.Depression of the button 416] trips the switch 416 to alternativecondition and releases the switch button 4161'. The switch then remainsin this alternative condition until the button 416r is again depressedduring the carriage return stroke. In the alternative condition of theswitch 416, it closes a solenoid valve circuit to valve air intocylinder 410 for operating the plunger rod 409 in a direction to set therocker 400 in forward position. In this position, the rocker permitsbristle feeding from the hopper 126 into the picker wheel 80. Hence, thepicker wheel will supply bristle clusters to the pin wheel which willdeliver them to the binding wires for an interval of the wire feedingperiod corresponding to the distance between the front and rearswitch-operating elements 420 and 418.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show the invention in relation to direct bristletransferring means between the hopper 126 and the binding wires 10 and38. As shown, this transferring means comprises a picking wheel 80Afixed to a shaft 146A which corresponds to the shaft 146 of the pinwheel 54 (FIGS. 1 to 3). Picking wheel 80A has spaced sides 80L and 80Rformed with peripheral teeth to provide alined interdental spaces orslots successively traversing the hopper mouth, each slot collecting acluster 139 of bristles provided the hopper is not shut by the rockerarms 401. The wheel 80A carries the clusters contained in theinterdental slots directly to the binding Wires 10 and 38. Skipping ofbristle insertion between the wires is eifected without stoppingrotation of the wheel 80A but by moving the rocker arms to their rearposition and thus shutting off the feed of bristles to the Wheel. Themeans for operating and timing the operation of the rocker 400 can bethe same as previously described.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of theinvention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understoodthat this description is made only by way of example and not as alimitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objectsthereof and in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a brush making machine operating through brush forming cycles toproduce in each cycle a brush body with bristles bound between wires, abristle supply hopper, means for transferring bristles from the hopperto the wires and including a rotary bristle picking member rotatablymovable past the hopper mouth to pick up bristles for transfer to thewires, a feed control member movable between a feed-interruptingposition across the hopper mouth to block passage of bristles from thehopper to the picking member and a feed-permitting position which allowspassage of bristles from the hopper to the picking member, and means forperiodically moving said feed control member between saidfeed-permitting and feed-interrupting positions in synchronism with saidbrush forming cycles to produce brush bodies having bristles boundbetween predetermined portions of said wires.

2. The invention according to claim 1, the bristles lying in the hopperacross its width, the picking member being narrower than the hopperwidth and having a picking locus intermediate the hopper sides forpicking the bristles by engagement therewith between their ends, andsaid feed control member including arms straddling the picking member tobe operative in feed-interrupting position for engagement with thebristle portions at opposite sides of the picking locus.

3. The invention according to claim 2, the picking member being a wheelhaving an arc of intrusion into the hopper mouth and said arms having acurvature substantially conforming to the curvature of the wheel andbeing long enough to span the arc of intrusion of the wheel into thehopper mouth.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3, said feed control member beingrockably mounted adjacent the hopper mouth for rockable movement of itsarms across the bristle picking locus of the picking wheel during theshifting of the feed control member between its alternative positions.

5. The invention according to claim 4, the picking wheel beingperipherally provided with a picker slot to collect a. cluster ofbristles from the hopper during traverse across the hopper mouth, andsaid arms in their feed-interrupting position blanking said slot toprevent ingress of bristles therein.

6. The invention according to claim 5, the picking wheel beingunidirectionally rotated and disposed between the hopper mouth and thebinding wires for transferring bristles directly from the hopper to thebinding Wires, the wheel being provided with a plurality of said pickerslots around its periphery to collect bristle clusters successively anddeliver them one after another to the binding wires during rotation ofthe wheel, said arms in their feedinterrupting position blanking out aplurality of the picker slots traversing the hopper mouth.

7. The invention as in claim 5, there being a single picker slot in thepicking wheel, the transferring means also including a conveyor wheelbetween the picking wheel and the binding wires and providedperipherally with equidistant bristle cluster conveying arcs forsuccessively receiving clusters from the picker slot during successiverevolutions of the picking wheel and delivering the clusters to thebinding wires, a number of successive conveying arcs being left empty inaccordance with the number of revolutions performed by the picking wheelwhile the picker slot is being blanked by said arms.

8. In a brush making machine such as defined in claim 1, cyclicallyfunctioning means for alternating the feed control member between itsfeed-permitting and feedinterrupting positions in accordance withrequired intervals of bristle transfer and interruption of transfer tothe binding wires during each brush forming cycle.

9. In a machine such as defined in claim 8, the cyclically functioningmeans including an actuator for said feed control member and meanssynchronized with stages of the brush forming cycle for timing theactuator operation.

10. In a machine such as defined in claim 9, wherein the binding wiresare fed past the transferring means to receive bristles therefrom inlengthwise spaced positions between the wires, said timing meansincluding wire feeding mechanism.

11. In a machine such as defined in claim 10, the wire feeding meanscomprising a chuck for gripping the wires and a reciprocative carriagemounting the chuck, said actuator for the feed-interrupting andfeed-permitting member being electrically controlled through switchmeans, the timing means including said switch means responsive to thepositions of the carriage.

12. In a brush making machine, a supply hopper for brush bristles, abristle picking wheel continuously rotating across the hopper mouth andperipherally recessed parallel to its axis of rotation for gathering thebristles in clusters from the hopper during revolutions past the hopper,and bristle feed control means including a movably mounted member havingalternative positions in one of which it permits passage of bristlesfrom the hopper to the picking wheel and in the other of which itshields the picking wheel from reception of bristles through the hoppermouth during continued rotation of the wheel.

13. In a brush making machine operating through brush forming cycles toproduce in each cycle a brush body with bristles bound between wires, asupply hopper for brush bristles, a bristle picking wheel having abristle picking locus of movement across the hopper mouth to take thebristles from the hopper, and means for controlling the passage ofbristles from the hopper to the picking wheel including a member mountedadjacent the hopper mouth and provided with a pair of elementsstraddling the picking wheel and movable across the bristle pickinglocus from a position inward of the locus and permitting passage ofbristles from the hopper to the picking wheel into an alternativeposition across the hopper mouth for shielding the picking wheel fromreception of bristles, and means for operating said device to shift saidpair of elements from one position to the other in synchronism with saidbrush forming cycles to produce brush bodies having bristles boundbetween predetermined portions of said wires.

14. In a brush making machine operating through brush forming cycles toproduce brush bodies having bristles bound between predeterminedportions of said wires, a supply hopper for brush bristles, a bristlepicking wheel continuously rotating across the hopper mouth andperipherally recessed parallel to its axis of rotation for gathering thebristles in clusters from the hopper during revolutions past the hopper,bristle feed control means including a movably mounted member havingalternative 5 positions in one of which it permits passage of bristlesfrom the hopper to the picking wheel and in the other of which itshields the picking wheel from reception of bristles through the hoppermouth during continued rotation of the Wheel, and means for periodicallymoving said feed control member between said alternative positions 0thereof in synchronism with said brush forming cycles to produce brushbodies having bristles bound between predetermined portions of saidWires.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,834,911 Cave Dec. 1, 1931 2,742,327 Marks Apr. 17, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,028,969 Germany Apr. 30, 1958

1. IN A BRUSH MAKING MACHINE OPERATING THROUGH BRUSH FORMING CYCLES TOPRODUCE IN EACH CYCLE A BRUSH BODY WITH BRISTLES BOUND BETWEEN WIRES, ABRISTLE SUPPLY HOPPER, MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING BRISTLES FROM THE HOPPERTO THE WIRES AND INCLUDING A ROTARY BRISTLE PICKING MEMBER ROTATABLYMOVABLE PAST THE HOPPER MOUTH TO PICK UP BRISTLES FOR TRANSFER TO THEWIRES, A FEED CONTROL MEMBER MOVABLE BETWEEN A FEED-INTERRUPTINGPOSITION ACROSS THE HOPPER MOUTH TO BLOCK PASSAGE OF BRISTLES FROM THEHOPPER TO THE PICKING MEMBER AND A FEED-PERMITTING POSITION WHICH ALLOWSPASSAGE OF BRISTLES FROM THE HOPPER TO THE PICKING MEMBER, AND MEANS FORPERIODICALLY MOVING SAID FEED CONTROL MEMBER BETWEEN SAIDFEED-PERMITTING AND FEED-INTERRUPTING POSITIONS IN SYNCHRONISM WITH SAIDBRUSH FORMING CYCLES TO PRODUCE BRUSH BODIES HAVING BRISTLES BOUNDBETWEEN PREDETERMINED PORTIONS OF SAID WIRES.